When is the answer S2000?

I have a 2000 S2000 and can honestly say it is one of the most enjoyable cars I have ever owned. I'm 6', 200+ lbs and fit very comfortably. I DD'd it for close to a year with no issues. My wife and I used it for a short vacation trip and the trunk was plenty large for all our stuff. Oh, and the performance is great if you're not afraid to rev it up. Full disclosure requires that I admit to having owned and raced an S600 and drove from California to New Jersey in a street S600. I also had an S800, so I guess I'm addicted to the breed.

Don49 wrote: I'm 6', 200+ lbs and fit very comfortably.

See, I'm about your build, I've driven a couple of S2000's, and I don't really fit. If the steering wheel would tilt just a little bit I'd be fine; as it is the wheel digs down into my legs. Shame too, that car is a riot to drive. I was about two seconds away from trading in my WRX for one years ago, till I discovered I couldn't steer without being bow-legged.

I fit perfectly in a Miata though, go figure...

The steering wheel position being fixed is slightly annoying, but so is the wheel in the Miata. If aftermarket wheels were legal in STR (which is a dumb rule) I would run one just to move the wheel closer to the driver.

mtn wrote: S2000=Weaponized Miata. IMHO, budget is the only real reason to go Miata over S2000. This is a general statement and does not cover every situation though. (I drive a MIata)

This was my deciding factor for my NC, there simply were no S2K's for the price I paid for my 2006. Even if I factor the money I put into suspension and wheels, I'm in range of well worn S2K's.

I will say I wasn't ever enamored to the with the S2K's like I was with the NC's.

I test drove an S2000 before I bought my MSM. I liked the looks better than the Miata - something about the fenders. Driving around on the street then engine was fairly ho-hum and not as nearly as fun as I thought it would be. I liked the MSM better and saved a good bit of cash to boot.

Swank Force One wrote: There's several ways to make the Miata AZ6 feel better as well. Will it ever reach S2000 status? Doubful.

What are they? I'm not finding anything on the interwebz.

Tuesday!

I have been into Miatas for 15 years and have owned an S2000 for 3 years. I wanted the Honda pretty much since they came out. I like two things about the Honda better than a Miata. Chassis rigidity and that motor. I have owned several heavily breathed on Miatas that were much quicker than a stock S2000, but not having that OEM reliability somewhat tarnished the ownership experience. One area that I much prefer a Miata is daily driverability...not sure if that is a word:) The Miata is just more friendly to drive day to day. My S2000 is completely stock mainly because I don't think the car can really be improved thru the aftermarket that much. The Miata on the other hand is a blast to mod.....it needs some help in a good way. I have dumped S2000 like money into a Miata several times in my past. Not sure if it was a good investment(it was terrible in fact), but it was fun to mold the car to my taste.

neckromacr wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: There's several ways to make the Miata AZ6 feel better as well. Will it ever reach S2000 status? Doubful.

What are they? I'm not finding anything on the interwebz.

Better shifter bushing seems to help a lot. Better diff/motor mounts.

The right fluid. (Amsoil MTG and Motorcraft something or other seem to be the front runners at the moment.)

From there you're looking at actual modifications. The MiataRoadster shifters are getting excellent reviews.

I draw the line at the shifter in my particular car. I'll report back next week with how much improvement i saw doing everything.

I managed to get a 13B in the trunk of an S2000 once.

As a guy who made the switch from an STS-prepped Miata to a stock AP1 S2k, there were several reasons.

First, I wanted something I would actually want to drive on the street. The Miata was great at autocross, and sucked at being a car. It was loud, cramped, stiff, and still pretty slow in merge/pass situations. I could have fixed the last part, but it would have cost money and made it less reliable and thrown me into an autox class where I'd get eaten alive. I could also fit luggage for a weekend trip or a set of golf clubs much more easily in the s2k, and it wasn't a buzzy, blustery, quivering mess on the highway. I figured an S2000 was about as hard-core as I could get in an affordable stock sports car that is still a livable part-time DD. I wouldn't call an Elise livable or affordable, Cayman was not affordable yet, RX8 not really a sports car, C5 Vette was probably the closest to fitting the bill, but I have just never liked Corvettes for whatever reason. I think I associate them too much with the gold chain/desperate grandpa crowd to get excited about them, which I realize is my problem.

Second, I wanted something I would resist the urge to modify. I had just bought an apartment building and wanted to cool it on the unnecessary wrenching for a few years (to be replaced with unnecessary renovation work). The S2k is a nice combination of really, really good out of the box, difficult to improve upon much with minor mods, and prohibitively expensive to buy mods for. Perfect :). So far it's worked, the only things I've spent money on aside from gas and regular maintenance are a big front swaybar, a trailer hitch, and for this season I'm finally doing shocks and a DIY single exhaust.

Third, I had just always wanted one. I had never lusted after Miatas before I bought one almost on a whim after driving a couple of my friends' Miatas. I had fun with the Miata but I was getting to be both annoyed with it on the street and bored with it as an autocross car. I would have had to throw more money at it to make it a serious STS car, and I questioned the sanity of spending more than its base value to make it incrementally faster. I had a few bucks saved up and I thought the S2k looked like it was at or near the bottom of the depreciation curve, and it just made sense to me to finally get one. Can't say I regret it, I think the only thing I have the itch to replace it with at the moment would be an Elise, but I don't know if they will ever get cheap enough (or I'll have enough money to burn) for me to overlook their comparative shortcomings.

In reply to Josh:

Very well said! That practically mirrors my reasoning for moving from a heavily modded 240sx to the s2000. The only thing I miss is the torque

I've had a 2003 NB, co-drove a 95 NA prepped for STR, and now own a 2006 AP2.

Weaponized is accurate. The S2000 is stupid fast.

My thoughts are the S2000 is better in every way, except:

Really tight autocross courses. Ingress/Egress/Interior room. I'm 6'0/180 lbs. I feel like the Miatas have more interior room. The S2000 feels like driving a kayak thats really berkeleying hard to get in and out of. I haven't quite figured out why... but its a pain in the ass. Gas mileage

The doors are short. You can't just swing your legs out to get out.

I had fixed back race seats in the Miata, so I've never felt like the S2k was that hard to get in and out of. Once you're in it's a bit like sitting in a kiddie bathtub, but once you get the hang of the leg movements required for egress it's not much trouble. Hell of a lot better than an Elise anyway.

The s2000 trunk is great, my dad bought one and a big reason was the trunk would take golf clubs/ guitars easily.

Other reasons for s2000, it's the best feeling shifting I've ever been around. It's downright megical, I think the shift lever is carved from a unicorn horn.

S2000 240 hp 2800 lbs Nc miata 170 hp 2500 lbs

icaneat50eggs wrote: It's downright megical, I think the shift lever is carved from a unicorn horn.

That's what she said!

sorry I'm getting loopy from lack of sleep, I couldn't resist.

Derick Freese wrote: I managed to get a 13B in the trunk of an S2000 once.

Were you able to get it back out?

DrBoost wrote:

pinchvalve wrote:

Wow, I never noticed how ugly that front end is. It looks like the car is trying to kiss something.

They look so much better in person. They looks crappy in photos. Same as a early 90s 300zx. Much better in person.

Joey

Swank Force One wrote:

neckromacr wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: There's several ways to make the Miata AZ6 feel better as well. Will it ever reach S2000 status? Doubful.

What are they? I'm not finding anything on the interwebz.

Better shifter bushing seems to help a lot. Better diff/motor mounts. The right fluid. (Amsoil MTG and Motorcraft something or other seem to be the front runners at the moment.) From there you're looking at actual modifications. The MiataRoadster shifters are getting excellent reviews. I draw the line at the shifter in my particular car. I'll report back next week with how much improvement i saw doing everything.

I did the Motorcraft gear oil within weeks of picking mine up, helped some.

No love for the NC from MiataRoadster though. Cobalt looks to be the only one making one for the NC's. Miata.net seems to be the only one reviewing them and I take everything from there with a grain of salt.

There are some upgrades to the mounts, but it sounds like they can be real rough for a DD like my car. I wonder if new OEM might be better, my car does have 96K miles and 7 years of wear.

Ohhh... I didn't realize we were taking about NCs sorry. I have no idea on that front.

ahutson03 wrote: Who said the digital dash was a negative?

Bad eyes. Honda's electroluminescent (or whatever) displays make it painful to drive them.

The one negative feature on an otherwise awesome car. Heck, the factory shocks have remote reservoirs!